Monday, January 19, 2015

happy anniversary to Gadfly

Just now, I was looking at jonathan's journal, the short lived predecessor to Autism's Gadfly, and I noticed that the date that I moved my blogging activity here was January 18, 2008.  This means that yesterday was the seventh anniversary of this blog.  I've never blogged about an anniversary before and I suppose seven years is not a milestone like ten years is, but I was still thinking about all I've been through since I created this blog.  When web developer Tim Boucher heard my studio 360 show on NPR, he was duly impressed with my interview and offered to build me a website free of charge at the end of 2002.  It had this journaling section without the ability to post comments that was a less sophisticated version of blogger, but powered by Blogger.  Twelve years ago, blogging was still something very new and I was not sure what to do with the journal section.  Eventually, I ended up posting a few things.  I wrote a rough version of my article, Neurodiversity, Just Say No, which I made into a whole article later.  Harold Doherty was nice enough to give the article a shout out on his blog.  This drew the ire of some members of the neurodiversity movement, particularly Michelle Dawson who stated that she wanted to comment on the article, but I had no comments and she alleged that Harold did not allow her to comment on his blog.  Other people seemed to be concerned that I was something of a chickenshit because I would dare write polemic on the internet without allowing people to refute my notions in a comment section.  I'd seen other blogs such as the now defunct Autism Diva and Harold Doherty's.

I decided to move my blogging from Jonathan's Journal to a new blogger blog Autism's Gadfly seven years ago yesterday for this reason.  I knew about personal attacks so I decided to add comment moderation.  Michelle Dawson then engaged in an angry rant, declaring that because I was opposed to neurodiversity this meant I was opposed to human rights.  Because I moderated comments, she stated that she would never comment on my blog as apparently I'd delete any comemnts she made that disagreed with mine.  I turned off the moderation and offered to allow her to comment, but she declined.  After leaving comment moderation off, I began to get vicious personal attacks from some of the more unsavory members of ND.  I deleted a long verbose comment by one individual who was rude and who threatened to make my life miserable and irritate me.  He continued to repost the comment after I deleted it, so I decided not to let Michelle Dawson (and others) dictate my life so I have enabled moderation.  I still publish most comments, even those that vehemently disagree with me and are sometimes nasty.  Some people seem to be dedicated to harassing me because they don't like my anti-neurodiversity pro-cure message and a few of them went over the line and I banned them.

I've seen a number of blogs come and go over the last eight or nine years or so.  Autism Diva, Natural Variation, Whose Planet is it Anyway.  Now I'm saddened that MJ of the Autism Jabberwocky has decided to retire.  I've still kept going all these years in spite of all the harassment and personal attacks and even libelous statements that I've had to endure from some of the nastier members of neurodiversity.  I know they read this and I want to tell them (or anyone else) if they think their bullying is going to shut me up they are sadly mistaken.

I keep saying that I might give up blogging or even greatly curtail my activity or take a hiatus, but I seem to want to keep on going.  I've wanted to learn more about the science of autism, read more journal articles and become much more erudite than I am already before writing autism nonfiction.  But I guess I still feel compelled to write stuff on the internet.  Though I still blog, my input has decreased somewhat over the years and I don't know when I will be compelled to write stuff, but I guess I play it by ear and wing it.

It's been a rather interesting seven years, not sure what the next seven years holds for me, but I realize the prognosis has never been good for people with autism, even those as mildly affected as I am.  As I approach the milestone of age sixty, I realize things did not turn out in my life the way I had envisioned and hoped, and it has been a tremendous disappointment to say the least.  However, I just wanted to give a shoutout of my seven year anniversary.  Happy anniversary to me.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Neuroscienist Manuel Casanova calls out the Neurodiversity movement

Nowadays it seems not only do very few people want to take the neurodiversity movement to task, but in fact many support it.  The autism society of America had Alex Plank as its keynote speaker.  They endorsed Ari Ne'eman's appointment to the NCD.  Autism Speaks has had high school dropout John Elder Robison on their scientfic advisory board.  Their coffers have served as ATM machines to Laurent Mottron, Michelle Dawson, Isabelle Souleries and probably others who believe in neurodiversity as well.  The federal government has appointed five anti-cure spectrumites to the IACC and zero pro-cure autistics, though Roger Kulp has expressed a desire to serve.  John Robison has sat on committees deciding how to do autism research and what studies to fund, though he does not even have a tenth grade education.  In a great insult to rationality this man also has a professorial title at William and Mary College.  The entire united states congress changed the name of a law just because the ND's didn't like it/

That is why I am so happy when anyone of prominence in the autism world is willing call these people to task. Dr. C is troubled as I am at the power and influence these people have wielded as of late.

Ironically enough, Dr. C poses the following question:  Do they believe that the inability to get or hold a job infers a flaw in that person's character?

I'm reminded of the  
words of retired neurodiversity blogger "The autistic bitch from hell"

These people are truly pathetic. They have been called weirdos and dummies all their lives, and deep down, they believe that's what they are. They cling to their autism diagnosis like it's a security blanket that protects them from ever having to take responsibility to improve their lives. They reflexively oppose any efforts by autistic activists to raise the issue of employment discrimination because they fear that they will lose their disability payments if other autistic people get jobs. They will grovel at the feet of any bureaucrat who can give them a benefit check, pat them sweetly on their incompetent little heads, and reassure them that they're not to blame for any of their failures because their poor defective brains weren't capable of anything better.

So, if this is the opinion of mainstream neurodiversity, the answer to Dr. C's question would appear to be a resounding yes.  This person has been rumored to be Meg Evans, who with Ari Ne'eman, cofounded the autistic self advocacy network, the premiere neurodiversity organization, some of whose members have power and influence in the government and have persuaded members of congress to write false statements to the secretary of HHS and others to get what they want.  Apparently these congress people and their staffs are either too slothful to even do the most rudimentary fact checking or perhaps they are members of ND themselves and are opposed to ending this horrific nightmare which affects so many of us.

Unfortunately, Dr. C seems to have a friendly relationship with John Robison and seems to think this individual has something useful to offer the autism community and that is unfortunate.  I won't comment any further.  I'll just let Dr. C's post speak for itself.   I hope as many people as possible will read it and take it to heart, though I doubt few people will.

To me, the word 'neurodiversity' is just as offensive as the word 'retard' the n word for blacks and the F word for gay people.  I think the rhetoric of the autistic bitch from hell speaks for itself.

I only wish more people would call out this horrid movement.